


Anti Viral

by Sanjuno



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, And Gods choosing Champions, Because of Reasons, But they come back, Cid spends most of his screen time shouting, Cid wins via the power of shouting and tea, F/M, Heruli, I mean they did die, Imagine a Magic Fae Wolf jacked up on Mad Science, Like Magic, M/M, Multi, Not Really Character Death, People are Dumb, Post-Canon Fix-It, Rather than an event, Resurrection, Team as Family, The Planet ships it, The Wild Hunt as a species, This is what happens when I think too much about mythology, Werewolves, non-human biology, only not really, team as pack, that's it that's the premise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2017-11-10
Packaged: 2018-09-06 03:36:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8733232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanjuno/pseuds/Sanjuno
Summary: The JENOVA virus has plagued the Planet for far too long, and the time has come to end the Calamity. Now Ancient forces are stirring, roused from their centuries long dormancy by Avalanche’s struggles. Now, Gaia has gathered all of the materials she needs to create antibodies against the Virus. Now the Stigma can be purged and the Malady cleansed. Now the healing can begin.
The Wild Hunt rides forth, and the Mother of Stigma will learn to fear the howling winds.





	1. Down the Rabbit Hole

**Author's Note:**

> I got into a massive debate with a Twilight fan a few years back about comparative mythology and how much more interesting the Unseelie and the Morrigan were compared to twinkly vampires and in a fit of rage and spite I wrote a fuckton on VinCid kinda werewolf porn.
> 
> Then I edited the shit out of it because gods-be-damned this was actually a pretty cool idea for a concept that started as an anti-Twilight rant.

=/=  
  
**(In which the Planet is laying eggs in Cid’s new basement.)**  
  
The earth moved, the bed shook, and Cid Highwind fell to the floor in a tangled lump of blankets and thrashing limbs. The pilot cursed vehemently as he pulled himself out of the enshrouding linens and back on to his feet.

“Shera! What the hell is goin’ on?!” Cid bellowed without thought, but then paused as his brain woke the rest of the way up. Oh, that was right…

Shera had moved out, Cid himself being the one who had finally sent her on her way. Shera had put up with his bullshit with the patience of a saint and the self-imposed guilt of a martyr. Once Cid realized what an ass he had been to blame her for his own damn blind impatience... their relationship had improved by miles. Then Shera had started to talk about settling down, but even after Cid’s realization and apology, their relationship had not changed much. Maybe it was habit, maybe it was just how their personalities played off one another, but Cid had realized that they had a problem. He had a strong personality and a short temper that vented itself verbally. Cid did not mean to be abusive, not to anyone, and especially not to those who did not fight back, but sometimes the frustration just got the better of him…

Shera never could find it in herself to fight back over the way Cid treated her.

If they had gotten married the way Shera thought she wanted, Cid realized that things would only get worse. Shera would not, or could not, take a direct stand against her Captain. Cid did not want any pedestals under his feet like the one Shera insisted on putting him on. He especially did not want to encourage the sort of low self-esteem that made a person forget all about their own ambitions. That was not what Cid wanted out of the rest of his life, and it was certainly not what a nice gal like Shera deserved.

So he had sat her down, and they had actually talked _with_ each other. A more serious and frank discussion than any they had ever had before. In the end, Shera had moved out, determined to ‘find herself’ (whatever the hell that meant.) In a completely unsurprising turn of events, Shera decided to find herself by moving into the house across the street from Cid’s new cabin and only cooking for him when they were working together through meals. They had gone back to being Captain and Assistant. Everyone had been a bit surprised by how un-heartbroken Shera was, until they realized that Cid had always been ‘ _The Captain_ ’ first and foremost in Shera’s mind.

The house shook again as the ground rumbled, setting the china rattling on the shelves and pulling Cid out of his sleep-fogged thoughts.

“What the fuck is goin’ on?” Cid growled as he stomped down the stairs. At the foot of the staircase the irate pilot had to pause and take in the scene. It certainly was not anything a rational mind expected to find.

There was a big-ass hole in the middle of his living room.

“Well damn.” Cid stared, a bit disconcerted. The hole was circular, edges even as if sanded, and taking a closer look Cid discovered that the cut boards of the hardwood floor had fallen straight down in mostly one piece. The walls of the sinkhole under Cid’s house were perfectly smooth. Sticking his head in, Cid could tell that it was more of a tunnel than a hole. The ceiling was more than high enough for Cid to walk upright without worrying about banging his head off anything. Someone over the six foot mark might have some trouble straightening up, but Cid would even have enough room to fight, even if not to the full extent of his preferred tactics.

Grabbing Venus Gospel out of the umbrella rack Cid paused before jumping down, taking a long, considering look around the room.

“Fuck it.” Cid muttered to himself as he jumped into the tunnel. “If it ain’t obvious where I’ve gone then the fuckers are too fuckin’ stupid ta be chasin’ after me.”

That decided Cid stomped down the curving slope of the tunnel in search of the idiot who had dug a tiger-pit in his floor.

=/=

**(In which Cid appreciates some interior decoration.)**

Cid exited the tunnel a little bit faster than he intended. The last few meters had sloped downwards rather abruptly.

“Fucking dammit!” Cid stumbled forward down the tunnel, halting his forward tumble with one hand, scraping bare skin on rough stone and wishing that he had taken the time to put on more than a pair of sleep pants and house scuffs. At least he had thought ahead enough to bring along his materia.

Cid planted the butt of his spear in the ground and took a look around. Then he let out an impressed whistle. The first thing the pilot noticed about the cavern he had rather ungracefully entered was the multiple mako fountains. The cavern was, at Cid’s best guess, roughly fifty meters across and, as far as Cid could tell, pretty much perfectly circular. The mako fountains were scattered randomly around the cave, and they all seemed to come in one of two versions. Some were between two and four feet high and concave from the edge inward to the centre, forming a shallow bowl from which raw Lifestream flowed out between the crystalline shards that rose up along the outermost lip of the fountain. The vast majority however were as much as four meters tall, vaguely oblong shapes that reminded Cid of Shera’s penchant for hardboiled eggs in those fiddly little cup things. That or seeds, the layers of crystallized mako overlapping like closed flower petals, waiting for sunlight to bloom.

The floor glowed with the rippling light of the Lifestream, making Cid wary of entering further. The ground was little more than a raised latticework of narrow paths leading from fountain to mako fountain. The ribbons of smooth stone twisted up, down, around, and almost seemed to be made of liquid themselves. It reminded Cid of the water gardens he had seen in Wutai the last time he had visited Yuffie.

It was hard to tell where the concave curve of the floor met the domed arch of the ceiling. There were ledges running along the walls, and niches holding even more egg-shaped mako crystals. It was like a WEAPON had gotten it into it’s massive head to take up collecting Faberge eggs. Some ledges formed spouts from which small waterfalls of Lifestream spilled, while others were dry hollows. Shadows and light played in equal measure along the jade-veined upward curve of the ceiling, clusters of mako crystals hanging down like oddly rounded stalactites. It was actually kind of pretty, in a freaky, mystical, slightly claustrophobic kind of way.

A more cautious man would have turned around to get some help, or at least gotten a message out to someone, but Cid was the adventurous sort. So he wandered further in, strolling along the twisting, narrow, branching paths that covered the roiling Lifestream the way a lace doily covers an antique end table.

Wandering around at random, Cid still soon found himself standing in front of one of the egg shaped fountains. It glowed softly from within, but the light was strange. The by-now too-familiar green was mixed with tarry streaks of some darker, sickly colour. An ashy tone that reminded the pilot of Geostigma. Cid leaned in for a closer look. It almost seemed like the two shades were fighting. The two colours clashed again, right in front of Cid’s nose, causing his eyes to cross briefly as he twitched back in surprise. He blinked and watched as a small bit of the darkness was broken off and scattered by the mako-green.

“Huh.” Cid looked around the cavern again, eyes narrow in consideration. “Just what’s alla this about, anyway?”

It might have seemed silly, talking to an empty geological formation, but Cid had gone through too much plain old weird shit over the last few years to ever discount the possibility of an answer.

So when he was answered, although he might well have preferred not to be, he was not surprised.

There was a… sound, of a kind that resembled a striking flint, that came from inside the mako fountain he had been looking at. A gritty chime like sand falling on glass, and Cid turned back around. As he watched, one eyebrow inching ever higher, the opaque crystal layers grew transparent one intricate growth at a time. When the whole thing was finally clear as window glass, the contents were revealed to an absolutely gob smacked Captain. A familiar long-haired form floated, near-weightless and suspended in glowing eddies of Lifestream, and opened gleaming green cat-eyes to stare right at the pilot.

Cid was stunned into speechlessness. Then the figure within the fountain lunged forward.

“Holy fuck!” Cid would later look back on that moment and be mortally glad no one was around to hear the less-than-manly pitch of his voice as he screeched in surprise.

The person inside the crystal bud was brought up short by the inner wall. Cid had already leapt back instinctively. He gaped as the thrashing figure stilled, the crystal clouding back to its previous opaqueness.

“What the Hel?” Cid bit back the more hysterical portion of his thoughts. He looked around warily, before skirting the egg he had jumped away from as he made his way back to the tunnel entrance. There was a time for adventurousness, and there was a time for prudence. No guesses as to which side of the line this situation fell on.

Partway across the cavern, Cid paused next to another one of the flower-bud fountains, glaring at it suspiciously. Something was insisting on having his attention, and Cid hesitated for another uneasy moment. With another glowering look around the cavern, a deeply etched scowl daring anything to come jumping out at him _this time_ , he stepped up in front of the crystal formation and looked directly at it.

“Well then, let’s see it.” Cid growled as he gazed narrowly into the depths of the mako. Obligingly the crystal cleared and Cid was once again shocked into stillness.

“Impossible.” Cid breathed in sharply, anger bleeding away to be replaced by wonder. He saw another familiar face, framed by long curling hair that floated around the quiescent figure inside the fountain. Cid shook his head. “This can’t be happenin’ ta me. I’m too old fer this shit.”

He reached out anyway, almost unaware of his action. A familiar set of leaf-green eyes opened, mischief glowing brightly as a wink was thrown Cid’s way. There was a burst of light, not from the mako crystals, but from the Venus Gospel. Cid only had a short moment to stare at his favourite weapon in surprise. An Ultima weapon, made by the Planet itself... or so the legend went.

The breath left Cid’s lungs in a rush as he was lifted into the air and thrown back by his own spear. He was caught by an eruption of light from one of the bowl shaped fountains. One of the _empty_ fountains Cid realized with a sudden sinking feeling. The light arched over, around, under him, pulling him down, pulling him in. Cid could not move. He could only watch as the crystals grew rapidly and closed around him. He had only a second to realize that he was still clutching Venus Gospel in one hand before all thought was washed away by living green.

Sweet laugher echoed. “ _Hello Cid!_ ”

=/=

**(In which Vincent makes like a lemming and jumps down the hole!)**

Vincent paused, looking up the path through town at the modest ranch house stationed next to the now-empty launch pad. Cid was not expecting him, and the ex-Turk did not want to cause any problems between Cid and Shera. The airship pilot was an as-good-as married man now, and permanent invitation not-withstanding, having someone like Vincent dropping by unexpectedly to stay for a while might create friction between even an understanding couple like Cid and Shera.

Cid was his best friend though, the one he felt to most comfortable with out of all the Avalanche members. Cid never seemed to care what Vincent looked like or that he was a monster masquerading as a man. The blond man had once tried to offer Galian Beast _dog biscuits_ , for the Aesir’s sake. Vincent was just glad that he had regained control before Galian had accepted the treat and Cid’s hand along with it. Cid had just grinned at Vincent’s panic, shamelessly unrepentant, stuffed the treats back in his pocket, and said he would save them for next time.

Highwind was a lunatic adrenaline junkie with no concept of his own mortality.

... That may very well have been why Vincent liked him so much.

Vincent shook himself out of his musings and started again for the house. A frown grew on the gunman’s face as he drew closer. The light was on, but he did not detect any movement. Standing before the front door, Vincent debated for a moment before he raised one hand (the right one, the human one) and knocked on the door.

There was no answer.

Cid always answered, even if it was just to scream curses and demand to be left alone. Shera, for her part, was too polite to let the door go unanswered. Vincent frowned, brow furrowing as he knocked again, increasing the volume.

Still no answer, no movement, but the light was on. Was nobody home? It was not like Cid or Shera to be that wasteful of energy.

Vincent shook his head and tried the knob, unsurprised to find it unlocked. The people of Rocket Town were all good people. Engineers and mechanics devoted to their Captain and the skies (and they often spoke of both in the same breath and with the same reverence. The two thoughts linked inexorably in their minds.) There was little crime that needed worrying about, not with the reputation the Highwind crew had.

He eased the door open, his right hand on Cerberus as he called out. “Cid? Shera?”

No answer.

“Highwind? Are you home?” Vincent strained his ears as he edged inside, paranoia making him tense. When only silence answered him, Vincent crept further into the house, red eyes scanning relentlessly for clues that would verify or ease the foreboding feeling building behind his collarbone.

It was obvious that there was no one home. The house was small enough that Vincent’s enhanced hearing could pick up the lack of movement from even the upper floor. There were no signs of struggle either, which eased some of Vincent’s inexplicable stress. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Except…

Vincent paused in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

There was a hole cut into the hardwood floor in front of the couch, a circular opening perhaps two meters in diameter. A single black brow inched its way upward.

Now why would Cid put a pit in the middle of his sitting room? Baffled, Vincent walked over to the edge and looked down. It was a tunnel, sloping down and curving around out of sight, cut floorboards kicked to one side at the bottom of the drop. Vincent looked around the house one more time, checking even the unused guestroom, shaking his head over the state of the bed sheets.

Once again standing in the living room, Vincent looked down into the darkness of the tunnel. He examined the flawlessly smooth edges of the opening and the even surface of the tunnel walls. Then he considered what he knew about Cid, and what the blonde pilot would do with a tunnel in his home. With a resigned sigh Vincent checked his gun and leapt down into the tunnel.

=/=

**(In which Cid would like to lodge a complaint with the Planetary Management.)**

Cid floated in a sea of shifting green, glaring out at the glowing nothingness around him as he brooded.

                                    _‘Sulked!’_

_‘Shut up!’_

His sense of time was skewed, but judging from the intensity of his tea cravings Cid had been stuck in the mako fountain for at least a day, maybe less, but it was more likely that he had been trapped here for longer than that. He kept blacking out, losing track of his senses, and when he woke up after every stint of unconsciousness he felt a little bit different than before.

                                    _‘That only makes sense! After all…’_

_‘Shut up! I ain’t listenin’!’_

Cid ached, all the way down to his bones, and his thoughts felt raw and exposed. He had wrapped arms and legs around Venus Gospel like he was some kind of damned monkey. The spear was lit up like a fucking Yule tree, sparkling like an overenthusiastic preschooler had been let loose with a year’s supply of glitter. Cid was not happy with his weapon at the moment, but like fuck he was going to let go of it. Venus Gospel was _his_ Ultima Weapon, so fuck off.

                                    _‘Possessive much?’_

Unfortunately his weapon was incapable of cluing Cid in to exactly what the fuck was going on. _Someone_ was way too fucking full of themselves.

                                    _‘I’m more than willing to explain, if you would just stop ignoring me!’_

_‘Fuck off! I can’t hear you!’_

Beyond the oddity of his spear glowing it up and his frequent, uncontrollable desire to nap, Cid was starting to get the impression that something weird was going on.

More weird than usual, that is. After all, _Cid_ was the one it was happening to. If it had been Cloud who had been eaten by the Planet it would have been understandable. Cid would have gotten over whatever that meant fairly quickly. Hel, the only person in Avalanche _less_ suited than Cid to get kidnapped by the mystical cryptic forces of Destiny was Barrett. Cid had started getting used to being ignored by the bat-shit crazy things that happened to the others. The worst thing Cid needed to worry about was an over affectionate assistant. None of this resurrected sins of the past nonsense. Obviously he had gotten far too comfortable and let his guard down enough for karma to come around and bite him in the ass.

                                    _‘Oh pish, you grump!’_

It was probably Cloud’s fault somehow. Cid could get over the Planet being taken with the sudden desire to make his life a bit more exciting, but he could have done without the theatrics. Fuck it all, he was a rocket scientist with nothing to do! He was _bored_. No matter how dull things got however, Captain Cid Highwind absolutely _refused_ to listen to, talk back to, or even acknowledge the existence of any voices that may or may not be offering bitchy commentary on his thought processes.

                                    _‘Now you’re just being stubborn.’_

_‘Damn straight.’_

Cid would not recant his stance on this issue. Yes, as a pilot Cid spoke to and about his planes like they were his own precious children. Yes, it was a given, even expected, for a genius of Cid’s calibre to have a few… particular quirks. So yes, sometimes Cid acted like the birds had something to say back... at least he had avoided putting voice modules into the planes, unlike some less well-adjusted engineers Cid could name. Cait Sith was just… Cid was not even going there. Talking to AI’s was one thing… talking to the voices in your head? _That_ was just plain crazy.

                                    _‘Oh? Well then…’_

Cid Highwind was uncrackable. He could manage to lead Avalanche in a relatively straight line whenever Cloud decided to prance off into whatever sparkly unicorn fantasy land existed in his fluffy blond head and had once hijacked his own airship back from Shin-Ra with nothing more than a well-earned reputation and a few yelled curses. This was peanuts compared to the shit he had gone through.

                                    ‘ _So… I suppose you don’t mind if I start telling everyone about that **huge crush** of yours. You know, the one you have on-’_

_‘Shut up, Aeris!’_

_‘Ha! You talked to me. I win.’_

_‘Gods damn it.’_

_‘Oh don’t be like that, Cid. After all, he **does** have a very nice-‘_

_‘Don’t you even fuckin’ go there.’_

Aeris’ just laughed at him. Cid hunched his shoulders and scowled. This method of communication was weird. Like a PHS for the brain, he was catching hints of Aeris’ feelings and the deeper meaning behind her words. It was fucking strange is what it was.

                                    _‘Relax, Cid. This isn’t anything bad. Do you want to know what’s going on?’_

_‘A fuckin’ explanation would be kinda helpful, yeah.’_

_‘Well then, how should I put this… you remember the WEAPONS right, Cid? They weren’t very helpful against Jenova, where they?’_

_‘Kinda hard ta ferget somethin’ that big, let alone five or six of ‘em… but yer right, they did fuck-all ta stop Jenova.’_

_‘Gaia’s under the impression that it’s all a matter of scale. After all, you don’t fight cancer with a sledgehammer, right?’_

Cid experienced a feeling of foreboding like none he had ever felt before. Whatever Aeris was going to say next, Cid just knew he was not going to like it.

_‘Scale, huh? What then, is She buildin’ bigger one now and decided ta git an engineer’s input on ‘em? Or are they all gonna fly?’_

_‘Not… exactly. Um. Do you remember what we learned about how the cycle of the Lifestream works? Each life is born with a spark of the Lifestream inside of them, that spark grows stronger as they live their lives until the day they die. When that happens all life returns to the Lifestream, making it stronger and adding to the global consciousness.’_

_‘… What about it? Yer stallin’ Aeris.’_

_‘I’m sorry. Okay, so, to summarize… the Calamity is the Enemy of the Planet, so the Weapons were created to fight Jenova. Except this fight is less a battle and more… Jenova is a Virus, and you don’t fight sickness with force. You need rest, and care, and a healthy immune system.’_

Unbidden, Cid’s mind went back to the basic biology course that was part of the old Shin-Ra Officer education package. Immune systems produced antibodies to combat infections. Often specific antibodies remained in the bloodstream and made it difficult to impossible for the same virus to reoccur in the same person more than once. That was why you only suffered through Chocobo Pox once in a lifetime. Those antibodies were the basis for the immunization shots that had been created against the more deadly diseases. Cid did not like the look of where this was going.

                                    _‘So, well… with the Geostigma running loose the Planet had collected a **lot** of knowledge about viruses recently. So She decided to do things properly.’_

Cid refused to give in to the urge to ask the obvious stupid question when Aeris paused. With Cid refusing to speak, Aeris’ thought-voice was sheepish and apologetic.

_‘The Planet doesn’t like to let things to go to waste, and She already had the bodies available, and they have all the knowledge of how to fight Jenova... so all She really needed to do was tweak a few things here and there to… buff out the rough spots.’_

                                    ‘ _Aeris, stop fuckin’ dancin’ around the point and **git to it**!’_

Cid’s snarl made the liquid around him vibrate in echo of his rage. He hated getting the run-around. All this dithering was just making him cranky.

                                    _‘Sorry, Cid. You and I, the rest of Avalanche and… well, the SOLDIERS are going to be given a gift from the Planet that will allow us to purge Jenova and all her spawn from Gaia.’_

_‘By SOLDIERS… you ain’t jest talkin’ about Sephiroth and Spiky.’_

_‘No I’m not. As you probably remember, several years before Meteor threatened the Planet, Shin-Ra had a large number of SOLDIERS. When our Avalanche was tracking Sephiroth… there were only a few squads of Seconds and Thirds left, who were pretty much permanently stationed at their bases. Before the Avalanche that we knew, there was another Avalanche that had a very cruel man named Fuhito working for them. He corrupted captured SOLDIERS and turned them into monsters. Before that, an Elite SOLDIER who was one of Sephiroth’s contemporaries, a man named Genesis, went rogue and took many SOLDIERS with him in his defection. He turned them into copies of himself, like what Hojo tried to do to Cloud. It was… a horrible time. Zack was always so sad. He had to kill so many friends in order to end their pain. Gaia can’t… what was done to those SOLDIERS, it tainted them. The Planet can’t take them back, not twisted the way they are.’_

_‘So She’s… recyclin’ ‘em?’_

_‘Something to that effect... It’s more of a return to factory settings. The Planet knows who they used to be, and Time is a bit… fluid here in the Lifestream. Once they’re cleansed of Jenova-taint and the mako in their bodies has stabilized, those SOLDIERS are going to be returned to life.’_

                                    _‘Better an antivirus than the virus, huh?’_

_‘Cid! It’s not like that! These people deserve the chance to live!’_

Cid rolled his eyes. To tell the truth, he could care less that the SOLDIER program in its entirety was being resurrected in order to play very aggressive nursemaids to the Planet. That was not the point. The issue was that the Cetra girl was far too trusting. The multi-generational conglomerate that was the Planet’s intelligence was rather like the largest committee in existence. Cid could tell her a few things about decisions made by committee. There was a _reason_ that there was only one Captain on a ship, after all. Plus there was another little fact of biology that tended to be glossed over when people started throwing around terms like ‘antivirus’ and ‘immunization’.

                                    _‘Aeris, I know ya didn’t git much of a formal education, but ya did know that counteragents tend ta be opposite and equal ta the things they’re supposed ta neutralize, right?’_

_‘… What do you mean?’_

_‘An anti-virus is like a… a mirror of the virus it protects ya against. Did ya even bother ta figure out what was gonna happen when the Planet pulled this fuckin’ hat trick? I don’t even wanna think about what’s gonna happen when I git outta here. People don’t much like SOLDIER anymore, not after the DEEPGROUND invasion, and alla the ones we’re gonna be gettin’ back were tortured and fucked over before being killed by people they thought’ve as friends.’_

Cid had a brief recollection of Cloud, with that blank-faced thousand-yard stare and ridiculous leather getup going oversized sword to oversized sword with a poker-faced, leather-clad Former Shin-Ra General Sephiroth. Spiky was Avalanche’s anti-Sephiroth, and look at where that had taken him. There was no way in frigid frozen Helheim that Cid would willingly agree to any plan that resulted in him making a conscious choice to wear leather under-things. The wings might be fun, if he could get two. Only having one was fucking ridiculous, and Cid wanted none of that nonsense, but from what he could remember space-bitch had tentacles in awkward places and _eyeballs on her tits_. No, and fuck no, and your mother twice. No wonder Sephiroth had gone crackerjacks, with that sort of ancestry spliced into his fucked up family tree. Poor kid, puberty must have been hell.

                                    _‘… Oh my.’_

Aeris sounded a little stunned. Part of that was the amount of linked conclusions Cid’s brain was spitting out. People tended to forget that Cid had pioneered most of the innovations in aeronautics for the last couple of decades. He was angry so often because people were _stupid_. Basic common sense was way too fucking rare for his peace of mind, and his brain _never stopped_ running the calculations. Cid manfully resisted the urge to scream at the girl in frustration. Wisdom of the Planet his ass! Damn kids thought they knew everything and never actually stopped to _think_ about _anything_.

                                    _‘Don’t be that way, Cid. It’s for the best.’_

_‘Idiot girl! There is no such thing as mandatory mutation for the greater good!’_

Cid had a raging headache. An unfortunate sign, because from the sounds of things it was only partially being caused by his attempts to understand moron-logic.

_‘Hey!’_

Wonderful. He was being enhanced. Fuck it all, he had _liked_ being the normal one. Did nobody bother with agreement forms anymore? Fucking Hojo, Cid just bet that this sort of ‘begs forgiveness’ mentality was his fault somehow. If nothing else, Aeris being exposed to him while she was tiny had irreversibly scarred her psyche. Cid could only resign himself to cursing creatively over his fate and wondered how much longer he had until he was done.

                                    _‘Actually… you’re done now.’_

A solid impact rocked Cid’s crystalline cage, cracks splintering over the outer layer. Another strike, and Cid’s materia-gem shell splintered, spilling mako out to splash against stone. Strong hands grabbed Cid by the upper arms and hauled him up out of the fountain and away from the glowing liquid. Cid gasped as the air hit his face, coughing without sound. Each heave pushed more mako out of his lungs, and it was the single most disturbing thing he had ever experienced. It was a long minute until Cid was able to gasp in actual air and another, longer minute until he stopped choking on mako. Lungs burning and eyes watering, clothes plastered to his skin and his spear still clenched tight in one hand, Cid slumped against his rescuer. A careful hand had been rubbing Cid’s back for a while, and that eventually prompted the pilot to blink the spots clear of his vision and look up at his erstwhile knight in… a leather body-suit (surprise, surprise) and red. Lots of red.

“Oh.” Cid hacked, sounding like an upset, waterlogged housecat, and sagged, resting all of his weight against his friend’s chest. “Hey, Vincent.”

=/=

**(In which Vincent needs rescuing from this rescue, please.)**

“Cid!” Vincent put little thought into what he was doing. His friend was trapped in a mako fountain, and Vincent’s body moved without any input from his brain. Brass claws slammed into flawed crystal, and the ovoid capsule broke open. Shards of solid mako were discarded to the smoky quartz floor. The multicoloured glitter of the Lifestream spilled out of the hole Vincent had created. Heedless of the sting from the mako, Vincent reached in and dragged Cid out into the air.

It was a long, terrifying minute before Cid jerked in Vincent’s arms, mako streaming from the greying blond’s mouth and nose as Cid’s body fought to breathe. Cid twisted in Vincent’s arms, retching up syrupy water that glowed against dark stone. Vincent winced in sympathy. He could remember all too well the thick, gelatinous cling of mako in his throat, and it was nothing that he would wish on a friend.

Shaking off the surge of memory, Vincent stripped Cid of his pants, glancing only once at the white-knuckled grip Cid had on Venus Gospel. It said something worrisome that Cid had been in possession of his strongest weapon and still the pilot had not been able to free himself before Vincent had come along.

“Hey, Vincent.” Cid’s voice was raspy as he gazed up at Vincent with bleary eyes.

“Hello, Cid.” Vincent pulled his cloak over his head and put it to better use as a towel. Cid’s breathing was coming easier, and Vincent’s worried thoughts calmed. Here, see, the pilot was alive, breathing, and uninjured. “... I have to ask, how did this happen?”

“Fuckin’ Planet’s a spoilt brat playin’ games.” Cid growled, sharper-than-human teeth bared and eyes _glowing_ with barely checked temper. Glowing a bright, pale blue like a clear winter sky, shining like underwater lights with indignation. “This is _bullshit_.”

“Cid, your eyes...” Vincent stared, reminded of the irritated snarl of a thwarted predator as the eyes of the circling pack reflected firelight back at the camp. Threatening stars, stalking prey that shivered in the dark. Vincent was not sure how Cid had gotten the eye-shine that was the most common side effect of heavily invasive mako-based genetic modifications, but he was certain that it had not been an accident.

“Vincent, fuck. Ya gotta git outta here, git away from me.” Cid surged up, one hand clamping down in a tight hold on Vincent's right wrist, a physical contradiction to the pilot's urgent words of warning. "Somethin' happened ta me, I don't even know what she _did_ , Spirits-be-damned unquiet ghosts fuckin' a man around without tellin' him what's what, it jest ain't right."

"I'm not leaving you down here, Cid." Vincent let a growl of his own slip into his voice, squashing his guilt when Cid jerked back like the blond man had been struck in the face. "Now come on, we can call Reeve once we're back in the house and have him send over a research team."

The snarl that rattled in Cid's throat was in no way human. Vincent drew back, pulling his neck out of the range of Cid's snapping teeth. Cid fell to the ground as Vincent rolled to his feet, acting on pure reflex and eyeing Cid with wary trepidation. The human body could only channel so much energy, so Limit Breaks bled off the dangerous excess as light and an additional independent effect that worked to intimidate the enemy. So when Cid started to _glow_ and _change_ in a way that Vincent had frequent nightmares about, the ex-TURK had to swallow back a cry of anguished denial.

CHAOS was _gone_ , returned to its resting place in the Lifestream to await Ragnarok, and the remainder of Vincent's demons had been purged. The gunman was as mortal as any mako-enhanced SOLDIER now... but sometimes when the nights were dark and long he could hear the baying of hounds and the thunderclap of giant wings, and Vincent knew in those moments that they were waiting for him. Or had Cid been taken in his stead? Vincent could think of no greater horror.

Marbled sandstone and tigers-iron fur and lapis lazuli feathers. Vincent was not surprised to see that even Cid's sins were arresting. Beautiful in the way monsters could be, with their bright poison-warning colours and elegant, predatory grace.

Cid roared, lunging forward as Vincent scrambled to retreat. Ice-blue serpent eyes were far too calculating for Vincent's comfort. The next lithe rush of fur pushed Vincent back towards the center of the cavern. Huge lapis-lazuli wings stirred still air into eddying gusts, and Cid hit Vincent in the chest with clawed forepaws.

Braced for pain, Vincent was surprised enough by the sheathed talons to fall over when the rest of Cid's increased weight shoved him backwards. They landed together in the shallow bowl of a mako fountain, Cid leaning much of his weight on Vincent's shoulders. Claws kept politely away from Vincent's skin, Cid leaned in to set gentle teeth on the throb of Vincent's alarmed pulse. The glowing eddies of the spring's upwelling tugged at Vincent's hair as Cid nudged the underside of Vincent’s jaw with his nose.

"Cid?" Vincent shifted his hands carefully, placing them with slow deliberation. Startling Cid with too-quick movements struck Vincent as being a spectacularly unwise idea at that moment. Vincent stared up at the light fractals cast up on the arching stone ceiling and quietly despaired. There had been some awkward encounters in his long and eventful history, but this had to top the charts. Cid was _naked_ , mostly human shaped once again and only half covered by the ragged wrap of Vincent's cloak. Bare thighs straddling Vincent's hips without a jot of shame as he pressed closer with something very like a satisfied purr. "Cid, please pay attention! What are you doing here, Cid?"

"I dunno." Cid had the grace to sound at least a little apologetic. With a sigh, Cid shifted to sit upright, teeth leaving Vincent's throat as mako splashed up, outlining bared skin in dripping light. Biting his lip, Cid stared down at Vincent, brow wrinkled in puzzlement, as if he were not quite sure why he had the gunman pinned. Blue eyes were vague, an uncharacteristic hesitance pulling Cid's lips tight. "Ya jest... there was this smell drivin' me nuts. I didn't even think about what I was doin'. Everythin's kinda sparklin' 'round the edges right now. Makes it hard ta focus."

"Easy there, Cid." Vincent watched his friend struggle against his own body, struggle to make sense of a form that changed around him against his will, and in his concern Vincent never noticed the unconscious stokes of his flesh thumb over the thin skin of Cid's hip. "We can figure this out."

"Yeah..." Cid's voice was breathy, pupils blown wide open. A shiver ran through the blond's frame, strong thighs clamping tight around Vincent's waist.

Vincent moved first, before he was even really aware of the shift in Cid's weight. The pilot's naked back slammed into the side of the spring, Vincent following close after to pin his friend down with his body. Cid snarled and pushed back, and Vincent hesitated to use his left hand just a second too long.

Cid's mouth met Vincent's and blood flowed from lips split open by savage force and the sharp points of fangs.

=/=


	2. We're all mad here...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Complementary forces occur in every aspect of nature, and now that Ancient Forces have woken there is no way to sink them back into their millennium long sleep.
> 
> The Dream is long over, it's time to wake up before the Nightmare begins again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahaha, I bet after the first chapter's cliffhanger you've all just been _waiting_ for this!
> 
> That's right, crazy werewolf sex under the influence of magical mind-altering substances is _go time!_
> 
> I love doing relationships out of order. ♥ And remember kids, 'consent issues' are a thing you need to deal with the morning after if you're writing about drunken hook-ups!

=/=

**(In which there is strange not-really-werewolf coitus.)**

Slate grey marked in jagged black along the back, brassy amber wrapping legs to match the metallic shine of horns and talons, crimson ruff tapering to a dorsal stripe running the length of his spine all the way down a thickly furred tail. Raven-black feathers tipped in ruby unfurled, wide span of wings shivering in a languid stretch. Gleaming fangs were exposed in a wide yawn, and summons-glow eyes cracked open.

Mate was a tight curl of marbled tigers-iron fur and lapis-lazuli feathers against his side. Black nose buried in the thick softness of Mate's cerulean ruff, he chuffed in sleepy contentment. Mate was warm and smelled of him and of happiness and of their recent mating.

Vincent swore he could hear the echoes of CHAOS' laughter.

The gunman froze, not daring to move for a long, terrified heartbeat. He lifted his head, oddly aware of the fact that he could see his own nose. Vincent was no stranger to becoming something inhuman, but he had never before woken to anything but the aftermath of battle, and he had never before woken _with someone else_ sharing his distinctly non-human circumstances. Blood and musk and mako and Cid… the little cave they were denned in was saturated with their scents. Somehow they had found a place up near the cavern ceiling that offered a complete view of the cavern floor. Spirits, there were _so very many_ mako fountains, and he could feel all the souls sleeping within them.

Vincent looked at Cid again, now that he was more awake. The creatures that they had become were some strange hegemony of predator forms, an amalgamation of Apex hunters. It was tempting to say 'behemoth' and be done with it, but... lupine jaw, dragon horns rising from a high forehead, feline haunches, retractable talons better suited to a hawk's grasping feet, and… Vincent prodded the inside of his mouth with a cautious, almost disturbingly flexible tongue… yes, there were the venom glands, lovely. The guard hairs of their pelts reminded Vincent of dragon whiskers, and the undercoats were thick and soft like gryphon down. There were razor-sharp barbs hidden in the long fur that tufted at the end of the long, sinuous tail. A tail that worked to counterbalance the large feathered wings that sprung up from their backs. Hooked spines much like the thumb claw of a bat extended from the wing's elbow.

Cid stirred, and Vincent tensed. He had been far too confused to really process the information he was collecting, but when confronted with the possibility of an awakened Cid Highwind he was reminded of his instinctive knowledge and thoughts upon his own awakening.

_Mate_ being the key term setting Vincent’s nerves to jangling.

Somehow, Vincent and Cid had been transformed into these creatures and proceeded to... well. Mate, if he wanted to be delicate about how he phrased it. It would really help Vincent achieve some peace of mind if he could just manage to recall if they had been wearing fur before or after the act in question had occurred. Honestly, Vincent could not decide at the moment which option was _worse_.

Cid yawned, exposing a full set of gleaming, unrepentantly terrifying fangs and a long, slightly bifurcated tongue while stretching out all of his limbs and making their roomy den feel crowded until the pilot folded lapis-lazuli wings back down along his back. Bright blue eyes blinked in still-sleepy contentment, and Cid licked Vincent's jaw in a relaxed greeting.

Vincent could _see_ the moment their predicament registered with the other man. Cid's eyes went wide, fur and quills bristling straight out, turning Cid into a massive ball of blue and gold fluff as the pilot jerked his head back with a strangled yelp.

Cid craned his head around to boggle at his paws. Vincent chuffed a wordless reassurance, because at least they were not alone in these strange cirsuimstances, and so far they had both managed to more or less avoid losing their minds. In Vincent's history of metamorphic experiences, that put the both of them on the better end of the spectrum. Cid caught Vincent's eyes, and they just stared at each other in horribly confused, steadily worsening embarrassment... and then Memory crashed over them both.

/.../

Cid's blood was hot. Not just in temperature, either. Cid’s blood was spicy, and burned in Vincent's mouth like moonshine whiskey. Cid's hands tangled in Vincent's hair as he wrapped his legs around Vincent's hips. The move blocked Vincent's access to his guns, and the adrenaline surge that resulted should not have felt _nearly_ as good as it did. Vincent felt the heat in his own blood begin to build as the world outside their clench was lost in a haze of unexpected passion.

Vincent licked the blood off Cid's lips, chasing the traces with single-minded attention while Cid groaned, arching into the weight of Vincent's body with an encouraging wiggle. Vincent rocked his hips into Cid's, hissing in frustration as the fabric of his pants pulled tight. Cid was pulling at Vincent's belts before the gunman was even really aware of the need to move. With a thwarted growl, Cid shredded the leather straps and tough armoured fabric with impatient, be-clawed fingers.

The touch of skin to skin was euphoric, and Vincent bucked into the release of constriction. There was something wrong here, _why_ was – Cid bit Vincent's neck, and any chance they had of regaining control was lost. There was a fire in his blood, in his mind, and all that mattered was the need to satisfy the desire that ruled him.

Neither of them had it in them to be gentle. Vincent forgot himself, forgot the circumstances, forgot his sins, and forgot the wrongness that pervaded the situation... all Vincent knew was passion and golden skin. Cid gave as good as he got, shredding Vincent's protective leathers to free each limb until he reached skin and licking up the blood that beaded from the scratches left behind in his haste with a tongue that was disorienting and tantalizing in its softness.

Cid was still glowing, throwing off heat and light that flowed under his skin, surged in his veins. A Limit Break charge that refused to crest and Vincent chased the shine in fascination, humming in appreciation when Cid's cries of pleasure filled the cavern. Vincent paid no mind to the light gathering under his own skin. Ignored the shimmering trails of energy that flowed up over his limbs from the Lifestream-touched pool the gunman had forgotten to get out of when his friend had proven so _distracting_.

Too consumed by their mindless onslaught on each other, by each other, the two men ignored the way their skin grew tight. Flesh split, reformed, healed around matching sets of inhuman features, the blood rapidly washed away by a surge of spirit energy. Cid growled, using Vincent's brass hued behemoth horns to climb the gunman's body for a kiss. Vincent helped, one set of brass claws on Cid's ass and the other pressing gently on the sensitive skin over the spine between thrashing wings.

"Viiiiiince..." Cid whined and gasped for breath as Vincent chewed on his neck. " _Please_ , fuck - I _need_!"

"Yes." Vincent moaned, pulling Cid closer as he sat back on his heels, mako swirling around his thighs. Cid settled upright on Vincent's lap, wrapped around him chest to chest. "Yes, Cid. _Yes._ "

It should have been harder, both of them would realize that later. It should have been harder, but in that moment of mutual desire it was easy. It was easy for Cid to lift up, easy for Vincent to press in. Cid keened, head tossed back, hands locked on Vincent's horns like handlebars. Vincent bowed his head to the pressure of Cid’s desperate grip, panting with his open mouth pressed to the thin skin of Cid's sternum.

Release was blinding, it left them breathless and near senseless as the last of the raging light faded away. They clung to each other, the contact a comfort rather than an irresistible drive. When they gathered the strength to leave the pool Cid stumbled, sinking down onto four feet in a ripple of gold fur. Vincent huffed, too tired to be amused, but followed suit in putting on his fur to ward off the chill that came with the endorphin crash.

Cid nosed under Vincent's chin, self-marking before he promptly tilted his head to mark Vincent shamelessly. The darker hunter stared at his new mate flatly, and then sighed in resignation. One huge, brass-clawed paw pressed Cid to be still, and Vincent gently started grooming the mako from Cid's tiger-iron gold fur. Cid purred back, preening the impressive rack of horn he had so abused during their coupling before copying his mate's actions.

The yawn took Vincent by surprise, as did the sneeze at the end of it. Cid huffed, teeth flashing in a silent laugh. Vincent swiped half-heartedly at Cid's nose. The smaller hunter ducked the lazy blow, and Vincent used to other paw to pin Cid's head down long enough to preen the wickedly sharp Bahamut horns that arced away from Cid's skull. Cid's horns were meant to pierce, rather than bludgeon, even if their shape was different from the way Vincent's own horns sweapt up.

Cid shook Vincent off, rolling to his feet and sniffing at the air, tongue snaking out to taste the currents. Vincent watched curiously as Cid fully circled the cavern once, before using the various ledges of the curving walls to bound up to a wide but shallow opening near the ceiling. Vincent listened to his mate shuffle around for a minute, sprawled out on the warm stone of the floor. The dark furred hunter was content to laze, until Cid's head poked out and unimpressed blue eyes locked on his dozing mate. With a defeated sigh, Vincent leapt up the cavern wall to Cid's hidey-hole. The little cave within a cave was more than big enough for the two of them to curl up together and fall asleep in perfect comfort.

So that was what they did.

/.../

"... That spoilt fuckin' brat." Vincent jolted out of his memories, startled by Cid's growl and confused by the lean of the statement. Cid's lip curled away from sharp white teeth. "She fuckin' _roofied_ us inta havin' crazy werewolf sex!"

"We are not wolves." Vincent was surprised by the mildness of his tone. Perhaps he was still in shock.

"What the ever-lovin' _fuck_ would you call us then?" Cid crossed his arms and glowered, two-legged and naked and confused. _Fuck it all_ but he hated not having any answers. "Aside from a creature than nature never intended, and that takes _way_ to fuckin' long to say."

"... I couldn't say. Some form of chimera, perhaps." Vincent shrugged, frowning down at the torn remnants of his travelling clothes. "I can recognize individual aspects of the creatures we transformed into… but we were not coloured correctly, which makes positive identification more difficult."

"Godsdamnit." Cid raked a hand through his hair in frustration, glancing at Vincent with a wince. "... Sorry about gettin' ya caught up in this, Vince, but I appreciate the save. I don't think She wanted ta leave things ta chance."

"You have mentioned a 'she' before." Vincent kept his voice mild, not wanting to anger Cid further. "Who is 'she'?"

"... Gaia. Was talkin' through Aeris." Cid mumbled, looking away in awkward embarrassment. "We're gettin' turned inta anti-JENOVA weapons or somethin' like that."

"I see." Vincent hesitated, watching Cid's discomforted shifting. The strong urge Vincent felt to comfort the other man's obvious distress was surprising. "I owe you an apology myself. I was rough with you in my frenzy, and I hope that you can one day forgive me for the harm I have inadvertently done to you in my misguided attempt to help."

"The Hel're ya talkin' about, Vince?" Cid looked back up at Vincent with a puzzled twist to his brows. "Ya didn't hurt me none. No more'n I hurt ya back, at any rate."

"Cid, I... I did not prepare you. Before I took you." Vincent cleared his throat and wished enough of his collar had survived their coupling for him to hide his face behind it. Cid went white, then a deep red, squirming in clear mortification. "I, ah, I realize that I may discomfort you, but I will have to check the damage before we attempt to climb down."

"What the fuck, Vince!" Cid squeaked manfully in denial, the shredded red fabric serving as their bed clutched to his chest. "No! Ya didn't hurt me. Fuck, I _swear_ I can't even feel anything', so ya'll kin jest ferget anythin' happened."

"You're numb?" Vincent's eyes went wide with horror and guilt, and he caught Cid's arm, ignoring the indignant squall of cursing outrage that his actions solicited. "Cid, please don't be difficult about this!"

"I'll be as damned fuckin' _difficult_ as I damned well fuckin' please!" Cid flailed, but Vincent had both of Cid's wrists pinned by his left hand, and the right had hooked under Cid's knee and pulled up. "Are you fuckin' ignorin' me? C'mon, Vince, ya don't gottaahngh. Nnh!"

"You are too kind to me, Chief." Vincent was focused, and gentle. He did not want to cause Cid any new trauma on top of what he had already forced on his friend. Vincent was also _thorough_ as he used his fingers to check Cid for damage. Vincent's shoulders slumped in relief when he found nothing wrong, and Vincent smiled at Cid. "You would lie to me to keep me from feeling my guilt, even if I had hurt you. I am gladdened to find that is not the case."

Cid snarled, pupils dilated and every muscle in his torso straining as he shoved his hips up against Vincent's hand. Vincent looked down and swallowed, flash-fire arousal running down his spine at the sight.

"This is insane." Vincent hesitated, fingers pressed up against inexplicably soft, warm skin. Cid made a feral noise that spoke directly to Vincent's hindbrain, and red eyes traced the pilots pinned form. A pink flush coloured tan skin, and blue eyes were dark and hooded. There had to be something affecting them still, Vincent had never felt this sort of mad desire to pin Cid down and ( _liar! Chaos was_ howling _with laughter. Liar even to yourself!_ )

"Yer outta yer mind if ya think I'll let ya git away with teasin' me like this, Vince." Cid's teeth were ghost white in the dimness of their little cave.

"I - that was not my intent!" Flustered, Vincent made to pull back, to get some distance from the source of their madness, and was brought up short by strong legs locking around his waist. Vincent was not going anywhere in a hurry, not unless he released Cid's arms... There was something terribly wrong with him, Vincent sucked in a deep breath, that thought really should not arouse him nearly as much as it did.

"Way I see it, ya got two choices here. Lemme go so I kin kill ya proper like fer bein' a gods-be-damned _cocktease_." A sharp squeeze with his thighs cut off Vincent's next attempt to protest. Cid cocked an eyebrow. "Ya done ditherin'? Then yer second choice is ta man up and fuck me like ya _mean it_ , cowboy."

"Are you not concerned by what has happened to us? We are be-spelled by something that is making us act like this." It was little more than lip service to caution. Vincent's fingers were already sliding back into place, urged on by the sharp arch of Cid's back and eagerly canted hips.

"Ya got some damned strange priorities there, Valentine." Cid panted, squirming in a way that made coordination much more exciting. "Yer a man, so act like it, and can the introspective bullshit fer _after_ we git laid."

"As you wish, Chief." Vincent pushed in, vindictively satisfied by Cid's surprised cry. After that, Vincent was reasonably certain that he had lost his mind, because there was no way a man Cid's age was capable of bending that way.

=/=

**(In which there is a message from the Ancient Spirits.)**

"Ah. I must be hallucinating." The giant man facing Vincent looked amused by the gunman's quiet statement. To be fair, thirteen foot tall men dressed in black leather and furs with gold skin and stag antlers growing out of their temples tended to indicate that hallucinations were a viable and valid assumption. Cid snorted, and looked away when Vincent frowned at the smirk the pilot could not quite hide.

"Nay, my young Heruli! I am no mirage for all I come upon ye in the Dreaming!" The deep voice boomed like thunder, and the giant smiled with a mouth full of viper fangs as he patted the equally massive eight-legged black equine that stood beside him on the neck.

"This ain't one'a my dreams." Cid peered around with narrow blue eyes. Arms cross, the pilot glared up at the Huntsman. "I dunno about the cowboy here, but I ain't much fer entertainin' any fancies about gods."

"Ah." The presumed god looked delighted. "Ye recognize me!"

"Woden, Black-Horned King of the Wild Hunt, who leads the Asgardreia as their packs of hounds and hawks seek monsters for the chase." Vincent cleared his throat at the look Cid gave him. "My father was fond of mythology."

"Excellent!" Woden clapped his hands, sending his steed away. "Ye were an excellent choice! T'was wise of my advisor to suggest ye!"

"Your advisor?" The cackle that greeted his question was familiar, and Vincent reflexively dropped a hand to his… _empty_ gun holster. Of _course_ it was empty.

"You gave me the gift of company, my old Host." CHAOS scratched Galian Beast behind the ears, flanked by Hellmasker and Death Gigas. "It was a rare pleasure to return the favour."

"As ye say, my Herald! Do attend to thine duties now, for I would have private speech with the Heruli Alphas." CHAOS bowed, gave Vincent one last demonic grin, and vanished with the other demons into the mists. Woden looked amused again. "He is rather fond of his theatrics, that one, but he does his job admirably."

"... So, what did ya wanna talk ta us about, Old Man." Cid cocked a sardonic eyebrow at the god while Vincent quietly had a fit in the background. "This have anythin' ta do with the Planet playin' at bein' an immunologist?"

"Aye. The young Cetra did well for one so untrained! My Lady Frigga has been ill these past centuries, and the Calamity hast muddled her voice." Woden inclined his head in subtle acknowledgement and spread his hands wide, red eyes gleaming in satisfaction. "Ye and thine companions have freed a great many Powers in thy clashes with the Malady. Included among them was myself, and so I gift ye with this boon."

"That'd be why ya never acted before now." Cid looked Woden up and down. "Jenova trapped ya somehow, didn't she. Same as Chaos and Omega."

"Ye speak the truth of it clearly, my dear Heruli. I was not caged in mortal flesh as my Eyes were, but whilst their chains held I hung from the branches of Yggdrasil. Able to see all that occurred, but incapable of action." The massive form went down on one knee, ebony rack of antlers lowered. "This is my shame. That in my selfishness I left my Lady Wife unguarded. When the Slattern attacked I was not there to sound the Hunt and burn out her infestations."

"You are free now." Vincent stepped up next to Cid, meeting Woden’s blank, all-black eyes evenly. "Is it enough to save Her?"

"Aye, young Alpha." Woden lifted one massive hand to brush careful fingers over their hair. "Aye. Thine bloodlines were thinned, and thy ancestry a thousand years distant, but Heruli blood is strong. I apologise for the abruptness of the Calling, but our time to act grows short."

"That ain't comfortin', Old Man." Cid exchanged an uneasy look with Vincent. How short exactly was a 'short time' for a being that had existed since the Planet first formed and who would continue to exist until the Planet ended? Would they hunt tomorrow, or would it be a battle that their children's children would fight? Was it to be _a_ battle, or would they Hunt at Woden's Call over and over for the rest of their lives? There was no way to know, not for certain, not without knowing if they could trust Woden to tell them the truth.

"Ye are the Heruli Alpha, the first such to be born in a millennium. To offer ye platitudes as if ye were naught but still-blind pups would be the worst of disrespects." Woden's voice rumbled like a distant storm front. "I chose to Call ye for thine strength! It is ye who will command the new pack. It is ye who will lead the Wild Hunt! The Asgardreia will need strong Alphas if it is to succeed in its purpose. The whelps my Lady is readying for rebirth will be far stronger than the Packs of the past. Do ye deny the wisdom of my choice, my Heruli?"

"... No, Lord Woden. Of course not." Vincent looked at Cid and swallowed a thousand unwise questions. "I only wonder... why it is _both_ of us who were Called here to your presence."

"Ah, a simple thing, young Alpha." Woden calmed quickly, the smile back as fast as it left. "A Heruli must be mated to hold place as Alpha. Just as my Lady and I exist together, so do your chosen Hunters. One to stand for my Wife's honour, and one to stand for myself."

"I see." Vincent glanced at Cid to see how his friend was taking the revelations. There was a deep furrow between blonde brows, and Vincent sincerely hoped Cid was not about to insult the God-King because he objected to being cast as the, er, _Wife_.

"So yer sayin' that Vince and I are fuckin' _god-married_?" Cid twitched violently, looking at Vincent only once before wrenching his gaze away with a scowl. The gunman's gut knotted in nameless dread.

"Thine Union was overseen by my Lady, and similarly blessed by the mighty Woden!" The god stood up again, towering over them and beaming with a paternal pride that was at distinct odds with his freely admitted voyeuristic tendencies. "Ye will lead the newborn Heruli into Legend! The Slattern-Brats will soon cower in fear, and mine Lady Frigga will see her strength returned!"

"That's… great." Cid blinked slowly, voice thin with the strain of reigning in his temper. Greatly daring, Vincent touched Cid's shoulder, expecting to be rebuffed. The white-knuckled grip Cid took on Vincent's wrist made the gunman glad they were in a dream.

"I bid ye farewell, mine Heruli Alphas. I risk drawing the Calamity's attentions ere I linger overlong." Woden nodded once and whistled. Taking hold of his stallion's bridle as the beast trotted up, Woden paused before mounting. "Remember who ye are, mine Asgardreia, for _that_ is why the mighty Woden chose to Call ye both as Alpha for the Pack."

Woden leapt into the saddle, and was gone before either man could respond.

/.../

Cid sat up, Vincent's arm sliding down to rest around the pilot's waist. Vincent remained on his back, red eyes staring up at the domed stone ceiling. Sighing, Cid rubbed a rough hand over his face.

"... So that's what happens when a god don't git laid fer a thousand years, huh?" Vincent's reply to Cid's irreverent musing was little more than a strangled noise of confused outrage. The gunman gaped at Cid, and the pilot just laughed, bleak and humourless. "Fuck. Our _lives_."

=/=

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly have _no idea_ why Woden is acting like MCU!Thor but _goddamn it_ it's both suitable, entertaining, and young!Woden was a bit of a maverick so I suppose it all works out? He's the kinda god to slip inadvertent worshippers the _good_ sex drugs so there _is_ that...
> 
> Anyway Cid and Vincent are giving me those 'betrayed!' looks again so I'm going to go plot more ways to make them hook up in order to save the Planet. ♥


	3. The teeth that bite, the claws that catch.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud has a dream, (or is it a vision?) of a friend long lost but never forgotten.
> 
> But the lives of Avalanche members never stay peaceful for long. The dream is a warning Cloud should have heeded more closely.
> 
> The ancient war tide is changing. Can you hear the beating of the drums?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to have this posted before Halloween but my wifi was defunct for pretty much all of October so even though it was typed up and edited I wasn't able to post anything. Still, better late than never.
> 
> ... does this count towards my Nano total? XP

=/=

**(A dream is a wish your heart makes when you’re fast asleep.)**

Cloud opened his eyes to a sky made of light, flat on his back in an endless field of glowing lilies.

"Ah." Cloud sat up, a soft smile on his face as he braced himself on his hands. "Hello, Aeris. Was there something you wanted?"

"Dilly-dally, shilly-shally." A sweet giggle brushed his ear as her immaterial weight rested against his back. "Oh, Cloud, we can never go back, but look forward! The future is so bright. Are you as excited as I am?"

"... Look forward?" Cloud lifted his gaze away from his boots. The lack of horizon was disorienting, but if all he had to do was look ahead... Cloud blinked, squinting against the light. "Aeris, what are those?"

It was hard to see clearly. Anything outside of his arm's reach was haloed in light and blurred progressively worse the further away from Cloud it was. Ironically, the movement in the distance made it easier, offering different viewing angles and the ability to recognize objects blurred almost beyond recognition. A black wolf-cub wrestled with a white sphinx kitten while a phoenix eyras flapped stubby wings and scolded the red-brown kitsune kit stalking scattered petals. A golden Wyvern-queen lay coiled around a clutch of Materia-bright eggs, the dark bulk of a black-furred King Behemoth looming protectively nearby. A Naga hatchling coiled playfully around oversized red paws and snapped at a flame-tipped tail.

"... Is that Red?" Cloud ground the heel of one hand into his forehead, trying to ease the ache from eyestrain and clear his vision. "Why is he so... small?"

Not just small. Young, little more than an infant in terms of growth. Eyes only just peeled open. There were other animals too. More than just the handful he had identified, and they were all young. There were the Wyvern's miss-matched collection of eggs, and there were some creatures still blind and mewling, and still more young animals romped around on oversized paws or worked undersized wings or tested fragile new scales. Each and every one of them was a predator. It did not fit, not in Aeris' flower field. There was nothing to hunt here, and all but two of the creatures were too young to fend for themselves. Putting aside the fact that many of these creatures were natural rivals, Cloud knew for a _fact_ that dragons ate wolves, what reason did they have for being here, of all places?

"Oh, Cloud, it's going to be so grand! I can't wait to hatch! Then we'll all be together again!" Aeris trilled a happy laugh in his ear, her arms wound around his shoulder in a gleeful hug. "We're going to have so much fun together, Cloud, you'll see!"

Well, Cloud would not put it past Aeris to be the type of girl who kept vicious, dangerous pets and thought that they were the most adorable things ever, but he had the feeling that there was more to this situation than Aeris becoming the extreme sports version of a crazy cat lady. Even _Rufus_ only ever kept the one tamed monster around, and everyone knew how arrogant _he_ was.

A Roc cygnet inched up the oversized snout of a much put-upon giant crocodile hatchling. A Cuahl cub was ignoring the determined attentions of a Blood Taste kitten, far more interested in a well-loved cat toy than the tugging on its ears. A bright red Draken fledgling was curled smugly on the head of a longsuffering baby dire bear. Beyond them lay a hellhound puppy and a ball of bright fluff that might have been an infant thunderbird. There was a river dragon hatchling and a wobbly-legged gryphon cub determinedly trying to catch it's tail. Cloud slowly shook his head.

"I don't suppose you're willing to be a bit less cryptic?" Cloud sighed in resignation as Aeris just giggled harder, her chin coming to rest on the crown of his head. Yeah, Cloud had thought that would be the answer. He knew the sagas but still he had held a bit of hope. Lowering his face into the shield of his knees seemed like the thing to do now. The fluff and fuzz and down and itty-bitty scales did nothing to distract Cloud from the fangs and talons and barbs that made adult monsters so dangerous. Pulling his knees closer to his chest, Cloud leaned forward, feeling Aeris' weight press down against his back. He knew batter than to turn his head. Despite the solid pressure of her touch, he knew she would disappear if he looked behind. It was hard for Cloud to deny the urge to see her again, to look at her face. "... I wish you were real, Aeris."

"Stars-light, stars-bright, wishes that shine with Heroes might. What is a dream but a heart's desire, when demons lurk and hatred mires." Aeris spun up to her feet in a graceful flow of movement, and Cloud lifted his head in confusion just in time to see her whirl by in a swirl of pink skirts and curly brown hair. Bare feet danced between glowing flowers as Aeris tilted her head back and opened her arms to the sky. "Let confusion reign, and chaos rule! Pay the piper, play the fool! Cry in the night, herald the dawn! Ages past and times long gone! Winds of change in tempest roar, heed words o’ remembered lore."

Something like thunder pealed in the distance, and the animals had all gone still. Hundreds of fierce, predatory eyes watched Aeris dance as a storm brewed up on the edge of paradise. Cloud got to his feet, chasing after Aeris as she approached the brooding Wyvern-queen on the nest. "Aeris, get back!"

"Gods and men make warriors true, for mortal be the immortal too. Wicked secrets in betrayal veiled, evil's lies wrought heroes failed." Her voice rose with the winds, reverberating in the air as the storm howled up over them. It was the worst kind of nightmare, her hand always just beyond his reach as the gathering vortex lifted loose petals up in glowing waves of fluttering colour. "Called to Hunt, born anew! Shed the false, find the true! Calamity's end and Malady's bane, hawk-winged wolf and horn-crowned thane! Asgardreia rides, Viral stone-holt burns! High winds changed for war-tide turned!"

" _Aeris_!" Lightning crashed, haloing both girl and dragon-kin in blinding, jagged-edged brilliance. The Wyvern screamed at the sky, wings spread to full extension as it rose up on its haunches. Aeris mirrored the angry queen's pose as best she could, face turned to the violent fury of the sky as she laughed at the forces of wind and fire, and her arms lifted high in mocking invitation. Cloud screamed against the storm. "Aeris, _wait_ , please! Tell me what's going on!"

Lightning struck a second time, crumbling the ground beneath his feet. Blinded, Cloud was thrown back, ears ringing as the black rushed up to drag him down.

/.../

Cloud sat up with a gasp, his hand going automatically to the hilt of his sword. Panting, Cloud rose up out of his tent in a rush of adrenaline, stalking the edges of his camp in a fit of paranoia. The night around him was calm, the sky clear, and everything else had been a dream. A dream that had been all too real.

Crazy as it sounded, Cloud did not think that monsters and storms invading Aeris' always-peaceful Promised Land was a good sign.

The shrill ring of his PHS made Cloud flinch. Keeping his sword in hand, Cloud dug the device out of his coat and answered on the third ring. "Strife here."

"Cloud." The deep voice was not one Cloud usually heard on the other side of a phone line. Things were strange indeed. "How fast can you get to Rocket Town?"

"Vincent? Why are you calling?" Cloud started packing up his camp. If Vincent, who hated using a PHS and regularly 'lost' his in various ravines and rivers, was calling for an ETA it had to be important. "What happened? Did anyone get hurt?"

"It is not something to discuss over an open line." Vincent rarely wasted words, but Cloud could hear the familiar growl of Cid's cursing in the background of the call. The two men sounded fine, and Vincent would mention anything Cloud needed to know ahead of time. None of the emergency code phrases had been used, which Cloud had been half expecting when he heard Vincent's voice. "Although I do not anticipate the need to take more than the usual care while travelling, it would be for the best if you managed to arrive here quickly."

"I'm in the Nibel Range, so I should be there by noon if I leave now." Cloud hesitated, but time and repeated experience had taught Avalanche that there was no such thing as coincidence. "... I had a strange dream. Aeris was in it."

"... Ah." Cloud secured his gear to Fenrir and mounted the motorcycle, PHS pressed to his ear. Vincent's sigh sounded like it came from a long way off, surrounded as the mercenary was by silent wilderness. "She seems the familiar theme for the night."

Cloud closed his eyes as he silently echoed Cid's curses. "Call the others for a sit-rep. I'll be there this afternoon."

Without bothering to say goodbye, Cloud ended the call and kicked Fenrir into gear, tearing away from the now empty clearing where he had been camped. Cloud just hoped that whatever problem was rearing its head would not get worse before he met up with Cid and Vincent in Rocket Town.

/…/

Cloud took the back route into Rocket Town, roaring by the airfield that had replaced the Rocket Launch Pad. Shera still lived in the cottage Avalanche had met her in, but Cid had decided to build himself a new house further back after he and Shera had separated. A detached combination hanger-garage for the repaired Tiny Bronco was where Cloud parked Fenrir. It stood opposite a ten-stall chocobo stable. Cid may have thought that the birds were silly, but he admitted that they had their uses, and he stabled the chocobos for the rest of the party. As appalling as Cid claimed the thought was, there _were_ places that Cid's planes could not land. Plus, the money they made from racing their gold’s provided the entire party with a significant financial cushion. The private runway for the Bronco led to the main airfield, where the retractable domes serving as the roofs of the airship hangers dominated the background, competing shamelessly with the northern spine of the Nibel Mountains.

Cloud gathered his pack and sword from his bike before closing up the garage door. He had not slept in over twenty-four hours, the Aeris-nightmare notwithstanding, and Cid was always willing to lend out one of his spare rooms. There was no point in pretending that Cloud would not spend a night or two as Cid's guest. Once you were under Cid's roof you had no choice but to be subjected to the most aggressive hospitality in the history of the Planet, and woe betide the under-appreciative fool who tried to skip out early.

Spirits, Cloud still had flashbacks to the time Rufus and Elena had been in Rocket Town to commission a new Galinka. A thunder-snow had come down from the mountains, and grounded their helicopter, leaving the two stranded overnight. Really, there were no words for what had gone down that night. Elena still had trouble looking a teacup in the face. At least the Turks had stopped having hysterics about Rufus staying overnight in Rocket Town. Cid seemed to have impressed them despite the resulting trauma... or maybe _because_ of it. Who knew? Turks were weird.

According to Cid, there were certain standards a house had to meet. To say the least, Avalanche had been surprised to learn that the crochet doilies were Cid's doing. The man's tea obsession really should have clued them in. Still, Cid would not be Cid unless he decorated like a ninety-year-old dowager with a combustion engine fetish and spoke at a terrifying volume with a vocabulary that could strip paint at forty paces.

The kitchen door was opened before Cloud even made it to the wrap-around porch. Vincent held the door open silently, letting Cloud enter the house before letting go. Cloud frowned, eyes taking in Vincent's casual attire in confusion as the door clicked shut and the gunman locked it. Had Cloud overreacted to the dream? It was not like Vincent to lead people on, but it was strange not to see Vincent in his travelling leathers and geared up to move out at a moment’s notice. Cloud shook his head and resolved to wait for an explanation. Even Vincent had to do laundry at some point, and there was no reason to suspect a sinister cause behind Vincent taking off his signature cloak in favour of jeans.

"You made good time." Vincent's voice was quiet, but it drew Cloud out of his wandering thoughts. The gunman nodded towards the stairs. "Cid insists that you make use of the guestroom you took on your last visit."

"I remember where it is." Cloud hitched up his bag and headed for the staircase. He was out of practice with being in the company of friends. A holdover from his bout of Geostigma, but his mindset was better than it had been three years ago. Amazing what being cured of a deadly pathogen did for a man's worldview. Cloud would have to find a way to ask Vincent if being relieved of CHAOS had done the same for him. "Where is Cid? No offense, but I would have expected him to be the one answering the door."

"That is understandable." Vincent stood patiently at the bottom of the stairs as Cloud ran up to throw his bag on the guest bed closest to the door of the room he used when in Rocket Town. Cloud paused in the doorway, lambent eyes narrowed as his gaze swept the room. There was a crack in one of the window panes (Cid did not leave things broken) and the framed painting that had decorated the long wall was missing (Cid considered these rooms to be less guest rooms and more as belonging to his friends. It was not like the pilot to change things without their input.)

Making the abrupt choice to keep his swords at hand, Cloud left the guestroom door open and headed back down the stairs. Little oddities kept cropping up, and until Cloud had a better idea of what was going on it quieted the unease left over from the dream to keep his blades at his back. Vincent lifted his head to look at Cloud, raising an eyebrow at the sword but saying nothing about it. Cloud could see the various holsters strapped over Vincent's casual clothes. Pushing off the wall, Vincent motioned towards the living room. "Cid is waiting for us below. Mind your step, we have yet to get around to covering the hole."

"What hole?" Cloud followed Vincent into the living room and paused. Cid did not have a basement, the closest he got was the root cellar dug out under the pantry. What did Vincent mean... Cloud blinked as Vincent rounded the end of the couch and dropped out of sight. Cloud hurried across the room and looked down to see Vincent waiting patiently at the bottom of a pit. In the middle of Cid's living room. "... Why is there an entrance to an underground tunnel in Cid's living room?"

"That is best explained with Cid present, as he was more greatly involved in this past week's goings-on than I, at least in the beginning." Vincent motioned for Cloud to follow and headed down the tunnel. The eerie, diffuse light was familiar from past underground excursions. Naturally formed caverns always produced a geo-luminescent stratum, but it was odd to find it here. Cloud shook his head and jumped down after Vincent. The gunman tipped his head to the side when Cloud caught up. "You needn’t be on guard. The tunnel is closed at the other end and no monsters have had an opportunity to enter."

"The only entrance is in Cid's house?" Cloud frowned at their surroundings. Vincent inclined his head with a small hum of assent. "How long has this been here? I can't believe Cid missed something like this. It's dangerous to build over air pockets."

"The tunnel appeared in the evening a little less than a week ago." Vincent did not bother to look around, padding quietly down the path at an easy pace despite the sharp incline. "Cid is quite insistent that the tunnel did not exist prior to that moment. Apparently the seismic activity was enough to tip him out of bed. He is quite put out over the damage to his floor."

"You didn't call me until early this morning." Cloud fought off irritation as he glanced at Vincent's bland expression. So Cloud was not the 'leader' any more. It was still a good idea to let him know when the Planet started acting strangely. "Why the delay?"

"I was not here when it happened, and Cid decided to explore on his own before notifying anyone." Shaking his head, Vincent sighed. "I arrived perhaps two days after the tunnel formed at around midnight. Once I discovered the tunnel and Cid's absence from the house, I made the correct assumption as to where Cid had gone and followed."

"It took you more than three days to decide to call me in?" Cloud gave Vincent his best unimpressed stare. "That doesn't sound like you."

"No." Vincent hesitated, choosing his words delicately. "Things happened quickly, and it took some time for us both to recover enough to think of calling in reinforcements."

"Recover from what?" The tunnel hooked one last time, dropped abruptly into an even sharper slope, and Cloud forgot about his need to press Vincent for clearer answers. Crystalline light in scattering fractals, shimmering through stained-glass patterns of transparent stones, rainbow filled pooling fountains, a cavern of the Planet's greatest treasure opened before them. Cloud's breath left him in a rush. He had seen miracles of nature before. Mako fountains, natural Materia caves, Aeris' healing rain and the spring in the church, but never anything like this. "Gaia's Spirits and Memory... I've never heard of this being possible. Two Lifestream up-swells... yes, maybe you could find an area with enough pooling energy for it to happen, but this is impossible. The size and scale... we would have seen signs on par with a malfunctioning mako reactor. Rocket Town should look like Mideel!"

"You can see why we hesitated." Vincent's eyes skimmed the cavern, indifferent to the wealth of natural resources hidden under his friend's house. "There's Cid."

Cloud blinked, shaking off his stupor as Vincent once again took off without waiting. Now that his eyes had gotten used to the dazzle, Cloud could see Cid crouched on an up-thrust ledge of stone near the middle of the cavern. The pilot had his spear braced on one shoulder, for the moment still as the jade veined granite he was seated on and apparently having a staring contest with the closest cluster of domed mako crystal. Cid was even more casually dressed than Vincent. Confused, Cloud gave Cid's bare feet a dubious look, and it was odd how much smaller the older man looked without his jacket and scarf.

Something was wrong here. It was more than Vincent’s evasive answers, more than their uncharacteristic flaunting of the rules of safe practice around exposed mako. (Really, what were they thinking leaving that much skin uncovered and at risk of an unexpected splash? Cloud shivered.) The wrongness was apparent in the way Cid avoided Vincent's eyes and the careful distance kept between them.

"Cid." Cloud could not resist jumping up beside the pilot to take a second look around. It was bigger from this angle, more obviously reminiscent of the Northern Crater, but far less violent. The cavern was a large, hollowed out ball, and the mako fountains climbed halfway up the walls, until the point the angles stopped saying floor and switched to ceiling. The aura of the place reminded Cloud of Aeris church, only with an atmosphere that was heavily charged with something anticipatory. Cloud blinked and turned to look at Cid. "So Vincent gave me an outline of the facts. On the phone you mentioned... her."

"Aeris. Yeah." Cid's breath hissed out between his teeth, a warning sign Avalanche had picked up on quickly due to close quarters. "I heard from her right enough. Her and the damned Planet and motherfuckin' god-spirits playin' a fuckin' shell game with men and SOLDIERS. Pisses me off."

Cloud flinched, edging away at the sound of Cid's almost-calm voice. There was something significantly worse than a growl lurking under the pilot's words, and Cloud did not want to be the one to set the pilot off. Something had happened here, something that had plunged Cid into the cold, seething rage that was far more dangerous than any violent explosion of cursing temper. Angry Cid was fine. Calm Cid was something that gave the _monsters_ nightmares.

"Cid." Vincent hesitated before placing a hand on Cid's knee. The pilot curled in on himself and carefully kept his leg still. Again, Cloud knew that he was not being told everything, but this looked like something private and Cloud desperately did _not_ want to get involved in whatever was causing the odd tension between the two men.

"I'm fine, Vince. Worry about yerself some." Cid shrugged one shoulder and looked away. Vincent's face fell and Cloud turned around to give his friends a measure of privacy, uncomfortable with the heavy atmosphere. Something was going on with those two, and Cloud had the feeling it was something best left alone for them to deal with on their own time.

"Hey, look." Cloud straightened up, pointing along the rise of stone they were using as a vantage point. "There. Is that a flower?"

"A Peace Lily." Vincent frowned at the single white flute and small cluster of dark green leaves. "That is... odd."

"That's Aeris." Cloud smiled, pushing off the ledge in a smooth leap, landing next to the bloom and crouching low to examine it. "It's growing right out of the stone."

"That's pretty damned close ta impossible, Spiky." Cid and Vincent were taking the long way around rather than the direct route. The pilot's frown grew deeper as he got closer. "I checked this place out while Vince was upstairs. It's all granite and jade. Those ain't soft stones."

"Jade?" Vincent cocked an eyebrow.

"Diamond's harder, but it shatters if ya hit it right." Cid moved his hands like he was weighing something. "Jade's tougher, it flexes. Ya hit jade wrong and ya git smacked in the face with yer own hammer. That bounce back makes it a bitch ta mine, so it's a good natural shock absorber."

"Clever." There was a considering note in Vincent's voice. "There was some thought put into the construction then?"

"Seems that way, don't it?" Cid stopped on the other side of the lip where Cloud crouched, mouth turned down as his jaw worked thoughtfully.

"You're talking like you think this place was... designed." Cloud brushed his fingers over the bell of the flower, feeling the soft, waxy surface of the petal. "This place can't be manmade."

"There's a reason this place showed up here and now, Spike." Cid crossed his arms with a huff. "Can't say I appreciate the change ta my building footprint. Ya got any idea what I paid fer those floors?"

"Do you know why?" Cloud tore his gaze away from the flower to look at Cid and Vincent. The older men glanced at each other and then away, shifting uneasily. Was Cid blushing? Cloud frowned and sighed, looking back to the lily. "Aeris was speaking in riddles when I dreamed of her. If you received a clearer message..."

"Clearer... perhaps too clear." Vincent pulled his bare hand through his hair with a tired grimace. "... It is difficult to explain concisely."

"Fuck that." Cid snorted and shifted his stance enough to be able to glare at both the other men equally. "It's embarrassin' is what it is, but it ain't that complicated. The Planet's gone and started meddlin' with shit it shouldn'ta because that bitch Jenova ain't gone yet."

" _What?_ " Cloud jerked around, balance off-kilter and his skin caught and tore on thorns that ripped right through the leather of his riding gloves. _'Lilies don't **have** thorns...'_

Mako frothed up, the small geyser catching Cloud full on in the face, and he slipped on now-wet stone. His mouth opened on a reflexive yelp and glowing liquid hit the back of Cloud's throat. Smell and taste have the strongest links to memory. Blinded, taken by surprise and with acid on his tongue, Cloud panicked.

There were _hands on him_ \- get _off_ let _go_ \- forcing him down to the ground - hard, harsh, _cold, so cold_ \- blinded, he could not see, tears and mako and eye-searing light blurring his vision away. Cloud sobbed, straining against grabbing hands - his clothes were being stripped off, betrayal gutting him like a sharp blade - they had _taken his sword_ , how _could they_? His skin was burning and his limbs were pinned down and he was trapped, and oh spirits no not again not again help _please help me!_ " _ZACK!"_

Lancing pain from crown to sole and he screamed, body lifting up on heels and shoulders before going limp with a shudder. Panic slipped away like infection being drained from a wound, long deep presses that forced poison away. Cotton gauze wrapped around his mind, muffling his thoughts as something coiled through his memories like a snake cutting through tall grass. It left him feeling hollowed out and disoriented and blinking up at the hazy figures leaning over him. Leaning on him, to keep his arms and legs pinned. There was blood on their teeth, running down their chins, and he could taste red-copper-iron-rust at the back of his mouth. Colours swam and merged and shimmered, gravity pulling him down, down, down to the bottom of the sea. Little drops of bleeding rain like rainbow-red pearls, like dragon stones, like an upended box of Summon Materia. A tidal wave in his bloodstream like Summoning Leviathan in multiple miniatures, bright little creatures hunting in his blood like the tiny, decorative pet fish from Wutai, the ones that had to be kept in separate bowls because they killed each other on sight.

The world smeared and blurred, a watercolour painting in the rain. He could not hear anything over the thunder of his pulse, lungs screaming as he gasped and choked on air in a panic he could no longer feel. All he could smell was the cold-acid burn of mako. He burned. Wanted to crawl out of his skin and hide, wanted to empty out his blood before it scorched his veins, anything to escape the blazing heat that was the only thing he could still feel.

The cool shadows of unconsciousness brought relief, and he went into them gladly. It was the only mercy he had ever received, and it was comfortingly familiar. The ringing in his ears abated as numbness washed over his over-stimulated nerves.

"Cloud! Stay awake ya stupid little shit!" How odd. Why would someone call his name...

/…/

The shallow waters of the central spring lapped around their knees as Cloud slumped under their hands, falling unconscious with a faint whimper.

"Cloud! Stay awake ya stupid little shit!" Cid's shout did nothing to stop the blue eyes from rolling back. At least the seizure had come to an end. There were splatters of Lifestream flung as high up as the ceiling, thrown by the strength of Cloud's thrashing limbs. Cid released his hold on Cloud's arm to check the younger man's breathing. "Fuck, fuck, fuck it all. Why does this shit always happen ta us?"

"The price of our sins, I suppose." Vincent gathered Cloud up into his arms as Cid backed away, standing and noting with resignation that his clothes were once again soaked with glowing water. "... Why did he scream? This place has caused no pain to us, and yet Cloud..."

"Yer body's used ta this shape-shiftin' crap, and I didn't have anythin' fightin' the Change. Spiky's infected with Jenova cells, remember? We didn't have that problem." Cid grabbed Cloud's sword and jacket off the ground beside the spring. They had managed to get that much off Cloud before the mercenary's thrashing had tipped all three of them into the spring. "He's burnin' up, and ya _know_ SOLDIER types don't get normal sick. I'm guessin' this whole scene was the Planet givin' her Hero his flu-shot."

"... Jenova will not go quietly." Vincent sighed as he followed up the tunnel. What he would give for his usual boots, they made climbing inclines so much easier. "Hence the screaming, I suppose."

"Yeah, well..." Cid's scowl was thunderous, and Vincent fancied he could see Cid's impressive intelligence puzzling through the last few days in search of answers. Cid remained silent until after they had stripped Cloud of his soaked leathers, washed off the mako residue, and tucked the younger man under the covers of the guest bed. Eyes narrowed in thought, Cid watched the light moving in storm-cloud swirls under Cloud's skin. Tarry shadows like bruises, like the first flush of Geostigma, rose to the surface like they were trying to escape before being consumed. Chased and harried like a fox pursued by hounds. Head tilted, lips pursed in consideration, Cid nodded slowly at whatever conclusions he had reached. "... She's bein' gentle with him."

Vincent blinked at the low, thoughtful declaration. Nothing in the events of the last hour had struck Vincent as being particularly gentle. Cid seemed sure of himself though, so Vincent simply turned his head to regard his friend. "Gentle in what way?"

"He ain't trapped the way I was, so he ain't being forced through the Change. Plus, we already know Jenova can hijack the Lifestream if she’s focused enough. Cloud bein’ in one’a the eggs’d be a fuckin’ _beacon_ fer the alien-bitch’s attention. He ain't being bum-rushed inta dealin' with the instincts either, not like we were. Otherwise he'd be awake. She's takin' Her time, jest look." Cid waved a hand at Cloud's exposed chest. "Jenova's bein' pushed outta his core first. That means internal organs are priority one, and how much d’ya wanna bet the drama down below was all about chasin' Jenova outta Spike's brainpan? She's takin' Her time with him, like I said. Lettin' him git used ta it a little at a time instead ‘a hittin' him with all’a it at once. Fuck, how much ya wanna bet he ain't even gonna shift inta his fur until after he decides he _wants_ ta?"

"No bet." Vincent frowned as Cid pulled the blankets up, fussing for only a moment before stepping back from Cloud's bedside and heading for the door. "Chief, I know we decided to call the others about this, but..."

"It ain't safe fer 'em ta be here. Hel, if I thought I could manage it I'd evacuate the town, but there's no tellin' if any of my crew got enough'a the mako shots from SHIN-RA ta be viable fer infection. We're gonna need ta shut down the air field and quarantine Rocket Town. " Cid shook his head, and Vincent felt some of the tense muscles in his back relax. So, that was one concern out of the way. Cid looked up at Vincent, chewing on his lip for a moment. "Ya know She's gonna find a way ta git 'em here, right? Us sellin' 'em' a line ta keep 'em at a safe distance is jest gonna delay Her plan."

"So we leave the choice to them." Vincent swept his human hand out in a wide arc with a fluid shrug. "Let the others choose for themselves if they wish to risk exposure, risk the Change. It may be that this is the lesser evil. Jenova is known to be a threat on a scale we can barely imagine. The Planet and Her Spirits may not prioritize human survival, but at the least they too desire an end to the Calamity."

"The enemy of my enemy?" Cid sighed and raked a hand roughly through his hair. "Yeah, alright. Let's git a hold ‘a the others and let 'em know what goin' on."

Feeling as tired as Cid looked, Vincent nodded with a sigh of his own and followed his friend down the stairs into the kitchen where the house phone awaited their use.

/…/

**(Tifa needs a vacation from her _entire life_ and the Turks are _not_ being paid enough to deal with Avalanche’s version of reality.)**

"I want to visit Cid and Vincent!" Marlene announced as she came down the stairs. Tifa looked up from the breakfast skittle to quirk an eyebrow at the girl she thought of as a combination daughter-younger sister.

"What brought this on?" Tifa started dishing out plates, not all that surprised by Marlene's wish. The girl's crush on Vincent was a constant source of amusement, and if Vincent was visiting Cid then there was a good chance the gunman would stay put long enough for Tifa to arrange a trip to Rocket Town. "Were you and Shelke up all night on that pictogram site again?"

"Mm." Marlene hummed and grinned at Tifa around her glass of juice, pointedly not confirming or denying anything. Marlene was used to making friends with adults, and Shelke was in an odd place after the experiments and isolation that had delayed her development. Shera had taken to emailing the two girls in order to provide them with a female role model who shared their mechanical interests, and from there they had begun sharing pictures of their group of friends. It was great fun, and they had all grown close even though Shera split her time between Rocket Town and the _Sierra_ , Shelke lived with Reeve in Mideel while the search for Shalua continued, and Marlene lived in Edge at Tifa's bar while Barrett worked on finding a sustainable fuel supply to replace the use of mako reactors. Marlene made sure her eyes were wide and hopeful. "So, can we go?"

"Go where?" Denzel groaned dramatically as he slumped across the table, pillow creases still red on his cheek. "It's too early to go anywhere."

"Even to go see Cid and Vincent in Rocket Town?" Tifa teased with a gentle smile as she slid the children's plates across the table. Denzel grunted. Tifa would take that to mean thank-you.

"Cloud's there too." Marlene stared at Denzel's bowed head until the boy raised his eyes to look at her through his bangs. Denzel scowled, Marlene lifted her eyebrows. The stare-off commenced.

"Fine." Denzel mumbled at last, turning back to his breakfast and ignoring Marlene's triumphant smile.

Tifa shook her head, amused by their interaction. The phone rang just as she was sitting down, and Tifa huffed as she got back up to answer. "Typical, it _always_ rings at meal time - Hello, you've reach the Seventh Heaven Bar and Grill - oh, hello, Cid!"

The kids looked up at the name just in time to watch Tifa's face go slack in stunned disbelief. The bartender's mouth worked soundlessly, and the children exchanged curious looks as Tifa squeaked. Then the woman cleared her throat, shook her head, and straightened up. "The Planet's turned you all into _WHAT_?"

/…/

Reno fell over with a crash, overbalancing his tipped-back chair at Reeve's sudden shout. The tone had bordered on a shriek. Reno was previously unaware that Reeve's voice went that high. Rude adjusted his gloves as his partner scrambled back upright. The door to Rufus' office swung open, Elena poking her head out warily, one hand on her sidearm as she peered across the Turk Lounge at where Reeve's office door was propped halfway open as always.

"Cid, stop shouting! Yes I know I - what? But - yes, of course, I'll take care of it. Are you sure it was - I am not! Fine! I'll call you back tonight." The slam of the phone receiver back into its cradle made a few of the higher strung support Turks twitch. Reeve's muttering continued unabated. "Of _course_ this had to happen now. It's not like we're still busy with a _complete infrastructure rebuild and world-wide disaster relief_ or anything."

"Reeve?" Rufus knocked on the doorframe, cutting off the stream of grumbled curses from the other executive. Really, when had Reeve started using that sort of language? One aristocratic brow raised, Rufus glanced at Tseng before stepping into Reeve's office. "Has something happened?"

"You could say that." Reeve was glaring at his phone with his chin propped up on one fist. "Cid, Vincent, and Cloud have been infected with lycanthropy."

Rufus... just stared. He had no idea how to even _begin_ to respond to that. Somewhere behind him Elena squeaked and Reno banged his hip off the corner of a desk. Things like this did not happen before Rufus started casually interacting with Avalanche members. "Excuse me? Did you just say..."

"The Planet turned them into werewolves. Yes." Reeve grumbled, rooting through his desk and unloading enough mastered Materia to buy the entirety of the Mideel islands on top of his unfinished paperwork. Halfway through slotting a Summon Materia into his bangle, Reeve glanced up at the group of curious Turks hovering over their President's shoulders in his door way. Lips pursed in thought, Reeve slipped his HUD visor on top of his head and shifted in his chair. "... You should all probably consider avoiding Rocket Town for a little while."

"... Of course." Rufus blinked in bemusement as the diminutive figure of Shelke Rui shoved her way past his legs and scrambled into place at the bank of computers that took up an entire wall of Reeve's office. Cait Sith dropped down out of the ceiling vent, grabbed the bag Reeve held out, then scrambled out the window. The Toymaker flipped his visor down, and Rufus had the feeling that the black-and-white animatronics cat was not the only one of Reeve's many alter-egos that had been deployed to gather intelligence. Reeve looked only mildly irritated by the news that three of his closest friends could reportedly now turn into animals. "I take it you're sending Cait to see for yourself what has happened?"

"Hm." Reeve shrugged absentmindedly, moving from his chair to stand behind Shelke and peer over her shoulder at the data on the girl's screen. The man was more focused on his machines than the conversation, and just this once Rufus could forgive the lapse of manners. "They don't actually turn into wolves. Werewolf was just the closest term that fit the symptoms. It's probably a good idea to at least try and figure out what they do turn into."

Once again left without a thing to say, Rufus stood and watched Reeve for a few moments more. Shaking his head, Rufus motioned for his Turks to follow and retreated back to his own office. Only once the door was safely shut did Rufus speak.

"I think it would be best to remain at home for now." Rufus mused as he sat behind his desk and laced his fingers together in front of his mouth. A pause, and his lips quirked slightly behind the shield of his thumbs. "Perhaps this would be a good time to focus on decoding the rest of the files we recovered from the DEEPGROUND base and Hojo's other labs."

"I will relay the order to increase the manpower devoted to the Administrative History Project." Tseng remained bland as his subordinates eyed each other, visibly wondering if this meant _they_ were going to get stuck riding a desk. Tseng ignored them. "Shall I recall the personnel out on independent assignments?"

"Wherever you think it prudent." Rufus waved an idle hand and Tseng inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Do pass along the word to stay clear of Rocket Town for now, would you? We need to find out exactly how contagious this 'lycanthropy' is before I risk a Turk."

"Of course, Sir." Tseng twitched a shoulder and the other Turks filed out. Tseng paged a pair of junior Turks up to stay with Rufus. The look the Turk Leader exchanged with the President said it all. Here was to hoping that this situation did not escalate to the level of Avalanche's previous adventures.

/…/

**(You know what they say about cat’s and curiosity? Maybe they should come up with a similar warning for _bratty ninja_.)**

“What th’fuck?” Cid glared at Yuffie and Nanaki from his place on the porch. “I thought I told y’all t’stay th’hells away from here!”

“Oh, yes. The horror.” Nanaki flicked an ear. “I would so hate to have to worry about growing fur when I grow angry. Please, spare me the trauma.”

“Ya ain’t funny, smartass.” Cid folded his arms, looking at Yuffie with a scowl. “An’ what about ya, brat?”

“Bah, being a _mononoke_ won’t make a difference to me!” Yuffie grinned, something odd hiding in the back of bright eyes. It made Cid’s own eyes narrow in well-deserved suspicion as the ninja girl laughed. “As long as I don’t become a _nogitsune_ everything’s cool! So let us in already, old man!”

“I ain’t that fuckin’ old, brat.” Cid snarled, an expression of ire made all the more impressive after the addition of glowing dragon eyes and wickedly sharp fangs. “Fine. Gitcher asses inta th’house. Jest don’t ya’ll come cryin’ ta _me_ when this comes ‘round ta bite ya in th’ass.”

“As long as it’s Vinnie doing the biting I don’t care~!” Yuffie’s sing-song warble rose as she skipped up the steps. The animalistic growl that ripped from Cid’s throat made the girl freeze halfway through the door. Nanaki’s ears flattened back in a reflexive flinch.

Cid clapped a hand to Yuffie’s shoulder and leaned in. “Ya’ll kin jest leave Vince alone now, y’here me, brat? We got enough ta deal with right now without ya playin’ at whatever game ya got in mind this time.”

Yuffie gathered enough courage to look insulted. “I’m not gonna hurt Vinnie, you jerk!”

“See that ya don’t.” Cid pulled his hand away and ushered them both into the house. “C’mon then, let’s git ya idgit’s settled.”

=/=

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amazing how well Disney lyrics work as scene descriptors when I'm writing FFVII. Simply astounding. XP
> 
> Well whatever, the plot is proceeding apace. Enjoy! ^_^

**Author's Note:**

> Also biology is cool especially once you start to consider the science behind magic and how inhuman species would actually _work_ because every mythos says that they are compatible with original flavour humans and really now that's less parallel evolution and more regional variations of the same species only with Add More Magic For Variety.
> 
> ... No, I don't really know how to make my brain stop. Sorry I'm not sorry.


End file.
